To be nobody-but-yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
~ e. e. cummings

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

One Night Only, Limited Engagement

Okay, dear readers (and fellow fans of George Clooney), today's the day! Per my promise to make a video of myself singing my prize-winning song for nikkicrumpet's contest, I now present - for 24 hours only - the international debut of Heather Acting Like A Deranged Fan (or at least Somewhat Slightly Crazier than Usual)!

I wanted to put beginning and end credits on the video, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the video editing software Hubby got for the computer when we bought the video camera to work. Seriously, I've watched him do all sorts of cool things with the video footage we've shot since we bought the new camera, and I really thought I could do it. As it turns out, I can't. So, no witty titles or credits or fancy special effects, sorry. (I was all about doing lots of "star wipes" too. Shoot.)

So, I'll do the credits here, then show you the video. I'm not kidding when I say this is a limited engagement: I do NOT want this thing getting spread around the interwebz. I want it to languish here in relative obscurity on my little blog, then disappear quietly into that good night. I mean, I'm wearing a tiara, for crying out loud. You can't bring the crazy any more than being a goofy, nearly-middle-aged chick singing an ode to a George Clooney photograph than by wearing a pink, marabou trimmed tiara (borrowed from Kiddo's rather extensive collection for the occasion). Oh yes, I brought the crazy. Mmm-hmmm. I brought it BIG. I also slapped on some make-up (succumbing as best I could to the whims of the Gods of Vanity) and even put in my contact lenses for the occasion. My dear friends who assisted me in the making of this video managed to locate a karaoke track for The Rainbow Connection, and I thank them very much for putting so much time and effort into assisting me in looking like a crazy fool. The only thing about the karaoke track is that it was a bit low (or a bit too high, depending on in which octave I sang it) so apologies to Bea Arthur and/or any drag queen that does a Bea Arthur impression, I did not intend to imitate you, honestly. We did this in one take (not counting one false start) and thus you get the full experience, including us miscounting the intro and me allllmost starting a few beats early, then trying not to crack up when I realized that I almost mis-started. You can also see me briefly glance out the window immediately to my camerawoman's right as something flew by around 8 seconds in, as I apparently have the attention span of a gnat...

And now without further ado, the credits:

A Mrs. Smith Production of a

Freyda S. Joint

Introducing

Heather the Crazy Chick

in

Ode to a Clooney 8x10

(with apologies to Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams)

Direction and Cinematography byFreyda S.

Technical Assistance byChuck S.

with special thanks toNikki, Crumpetand Ozzie (especially Ozzie!!!)

*star wipe*

Sorry folks, time is up! The video's gone

into the vault for good...

*Fade to black, cue laughter and

a small smattering of applause*Please, please, please DO NOT copy this video or post it anywhere else online. It is copyright ONLY to me and any copying or sharing anywhere else other than on this blog is expressly forbidden. Thank you.

WOO HOO!!! You went to a ton of trouble...and dang if it wasn't worth it. I just wish george's people would google him and have him end up here!!! Ozzie stood in rapture while you sang...I think I even saw a little tear in his eye. He is very glad you won. Crumpet is just glad he got to steal a biscuit. GREAT JOB. you are a good sport!

I probably have photographs to prove that someplace, too. Thank goodness those were the Days Before Video Cameras Were Commonplace. Heck, that was Before Cell Phones, even! :D

Everyone else, thanks for the kind words, I do indeed have a huge set of..... vocal chords. ;) I'm a teensy bit sorry that the backing track wasn't in a more suitable key. I don't generally sound like I'm trying to be Barry White or Bea Arthur or Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria...

The video will remain up until this afternoon, and then disappear forever into obscurity, with George Clooney and/or Oprah NONE THE WISER. You think I want my Crazy known on that huge a level??? EEEK!

Tweet! Tweet!

About Me

I’ve been married to my best friend for over 20 years. Kiddo joined our family the same way I joined my family as a baby; through domestic, independent adoption. We live in western, upstate NY, though I’m originally a Jersey Girl. I grew up on a working farm (as NJ is the Garden State, after all). I re-entered the paid workforce a few years ago, after "opting out" to become a SAH mom back in '03, and am happily working part time for a nonprofit child & family services agency. In my pre-SAH mom life, I worked for a nonprofit in vocational rehabilitation for people with disabilities. That background has come in handy now that I have a kid with some special needs of her own. In the past 13 years, I've been learning how to navigate the world of parenting in this techno-internet age. I also read 3 or 4 grown-up books a week, volunteer (class mom, PTSA, Girl Scout troop leader, church), sing, watch too much TV, don’t get out to see nearly as many movies as I used to pre-Kiddo and spend (too much) time hanging out on the internet...